Sunday, August 21, 2011

Century Link: A Study of Incompetence

So, how did I spend my 35th birthday?

Awesome cake and birthday brunch by/with the wife and daughter.

And some vomit inducing moments with our new internet provider, Century Link/Qwest. I swear, the ISPs just keep getting worse. And I have not been impressed. And yes, if you Century Link customer service web crawlers are reading this, feel free to get in touch with me to apologize.

Because the other ISP was steadily increasing its charges over the years, we decided to make a switch. And so last month, July 20th to be exact, we had our DSL installed. A long cable ran from our house, to the back and diagonally across. Why the tech didn't connect us to the nearer box right behind us, I don't know (I think he needed new glasses).

Anyway, we were told the cable would be buried within a week.

And then the weeks came and went. Finally, on week 3, someone came to make the burial. Except this seemed like a bright fellow, and made a new connection to the nearer box so that he didn't have to dig into our neighbours' yards, and buried THAT cable. He said he would contact Century Link to have the service transferred to the new, nearer box instead, and they can then remove the old unburied cable. He suggested I call too, to get things moving faster. And therein lies the problem. 7 tranfers between incompetent customer service reps, with 1 dropped call, and FIFTY NINE minutes later, the last guy finally said, "I have trouble contacting the buried cables department. Can you call back later?"

WTF. And so, to avoid a cerebral hemorrhage from the hypertensive crisis they were putting me through, I decided to give it a break, and see if they would come.

A week and half later, no word. The cable remains unburied. My neighbour's kids have already tripped on it several times (no word on any lawsuits yet). And today, one of the lawnmowers went over it and severed the cable (it was an inadvertent but expected outcome- the damn thing runs across the yards of 3 homes!).

And in this day and age of 'high speed this-or-that', it will be.... taa daahh... 72 hours before someone comes to rectify this.

Strangely enough, things moved a lot faster before I became a customer... but once they had me hooked, things seemed to slow.

7 Comments:

the 72 hrs is but a small part. 33 days so far I still have that dang 75 m cable running in the backyard. Lets not forget this is a society that lets you sue if your kid falls in your neighbor's yard.also perhaps 59 mins on the phone is minor by TM standards but it's still a waste of time.

Hello, I am sorry to hear this was not handled correctly from the get go. We will often run lines like the one mentioned due to a myriad of reasons, but they should, and usually are buried accordingly. If you are still having any issues, you can always contact us at the following email address: TalkToUs@CenturyLink.comRegards, Steve

Today, the matter was finally settled. It took only 35 days. I suspect had the cable not been severed which forced a tech to actually come, this matter would have taken longer to resolve.Steve, I am also surprised your website (intentional?) does not give an email address for customer correspondence. The link for messages (not emails) did not work when we attempted to use it. We have already drafted and sent a to customer service. We'll see if they get back to me.

What BLOODY INCOMPETENCE!!!! I just spent two hours on the telephone talking to the "service" personnel at Century Link - and listening to that bloody recording over, and over, and over....

The first person I spoke to to place my order with them was a total incompetent - she kept putting me on hold, coming back, putting me on hold, coming back. She was apparently totally untrained. I hung up and called back.

The second person I spoke to was supposedly competent - she put my order through --- NOT. She told me I had to pay $99 for a new modem/router, because the one I bought from Qwest wasn't any good any more. Surprise surprise.

I was told, and got a letter with my new modem saying, that my turn on date was the 17th. Today is the 18th, and

GUESS WHAT......

the order was put in incorrectly, and now, after TWO HOURS ON THE PHONE it is going to be the 22nd - THE DAY AFTER I START MY NEW JOB.

So, their incompetent screw-up means that I HAVE TO PAY. No offer for compensation, just SCREW YOU, LADY.

And, of course, they have a lock on service in my area, so I can't change to another provider.

Isn't there a federal law that states that if you have a lock on service, that you have to PROVIDE SERVICE?????

OK, I am going to go throw up now, and take four or five Advil and try to figure out how to work out KEEPING MY JOB.

I could THROTTLE whomever sold Qwest to Century Link. At least Qwest did what they promised. I feel like something that Century Link just scraped off the bottom of their shoe.

What BLOODY INCOMPETENCE!!!! I just spent two hours on the telephone talking to the "service" personnel at Century Link - and listening to that bloody recording over, and over, and over....

The first person I spoke to to place my order with them was a total incompetent - she kept putting me on hold, coming back, putting me on hold, coming back. She was apparently totally untrained. I hung up and called back.

The second person I spoke to was supposedly competent - she put my order through --- NOT. She told me I had to pay $99 for a new modem/router, because the one I bought from Qwest wasn't any good any more. Surprise surprise.

I was told, and got a letter with my new modem saying, that my turn on date was the 17th. Today is the 18th, and

GUESS WHAT......

the order was put in incorrectly, and now, after TWO HOURS ON THE PHONE it is going to be the 22nd - THE DAY AFTER I START MY NEW JOB.

So, their incompetent screw-up means that I HAVE TO PAY. No offer for compensation, just SCREW YOU, LADY.

And, of course, they have a lock on service in my area, so I can't change to another provider.

Isn't there a federal law that states that if you have a lock on service, that you have to PROVIDE SERVICE?????

OK, I am going to go throw up now, and take four or five Advil and try to figure out how to work out KEEPING MY JOB.

I could THROTTLE whomever sold Qwest to Century Link. At least Qwest did what they promised. I feel like something that Century Link just scraped off the bottom of their shoe.

cent.link sucks,they knew they could't provide enough internet speed,gameing etc.then lied about install times,after loosing days pay&countless calls to them they all the sudden couldn't install until further notice..big joke!!! COX BIG$$ BUT DOES WORK/ NO OTHER CHOICE THANX 4 NOTHING CENTURYLINK......

About Me

A Malaysian endocrinologist, trained in a major academic center in USA, and now surviving in the world of practice after 12 years of training.
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